


a little misunderstanding can hurt a lot

by xogray



Series: percabeth oneshots [50]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, Comfort, F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Misunderstandings, idk lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29834553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xogray/pseuds/xogray
Summary: she reached down under the sheets until her fingers found the small piece of metal. she picked it up, holding it in her palm to inspect it, and her stomach dropped. it was an earring. a little stud with a light pink gem. she stared at it, unable to stop her anxiety from rising.annabeth didn’t wear earrings. her ears weren’t even pierced. so why was there one in the sheets of his bed?- or the one in which annabeth thinks percy may be cheating on her
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: percabeth oneshots [50]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839274
Comments: 6
Kudos: 112





	a little misunderstanding can hurt a lot

the turnaround had happened so quickly. one second, annabeth was elated, sitting in his bed as he went to make them hot chocolate, thinking about how percy was so impossibly caring and loving, unlike anything she’d ever experienced. and the next second, she had felt a tiny, sharp stab on her calf. she reached down under the sheets until her fingers found the small piece of metal. she picked it up, holding it in her palm to inspect it, and her stomach dropped. 

it was an earring. a little stud with a light pink gem. she stared at it, unable to stop her anxiety from rising. 

annabeth didn’t wear earrings. her ears weren’t even pierced. so why was there one in the sheets of his bed?

she racked her brain, trying to think of any possible conclusions. everyone who knew percy said he was the most loyal person they knew, so him cheating didn’t seem possible. but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t think of any other reason to find someone else’s earring in his bed. 

footsteps approached the room and annabeth’s hand closed around the earring, as she steeled her nerves. percy pushed the door open with his foot, carrying two mugs. there must’ve been something easily readable in her expression because his eyebrows furrowed as he set the mugs down on his nightstand. “what’s up?”

annabeth opened her hand, revealing the pink stud on her palm. “this was in your bed,” she said, careful to keep her voice level. percy stared at it for a second, blinking. annabeth braced herself for whatever excuse was about to come. 

“oh!” he exclaimed, taking it from her hand. “that’s where that was, she’s been looking for this!”

annabeth swallowed, dropping her hand into her lap. “she?”

he smiled, seemingly unaware of her unsettled anxiety. “the other night, estelle and i had a movie night and a sleepover with a whole fort and everything. yesterday morning, mom realized she only had one earring in.”

 _estelle,_ annabeth thought. _his seven year old sister. of course._

“oh,” she said, nodding slowly.

percy, still oblivious to her mood, closed his fist around the earring. “is the back somewhere in there too?”

annabeth blinked. “i don’t know, i didn’t really look,” she said quietly, moving back and lifting the sheets. it took a minute of them searching, but sure enough, the little silver backing was there too. 

“let me go give this to mom real quick,” he said, leaving the room. annabeth covered her hands with her face, exhaling. how had she not thought of his sister? when she heard him returning, she quickly dropped her hands. 

percy re-entered his room, shutting his door behind him and crawling into his bed. he grabbed the two mugs from before, handing her one. “m’lady,” he said. 

“thank you,” she whispered, wrapping her hands around the warm ceramic. percy finally realized something was wrong as he heard her voice. his eyes flickered over her face. 

“you okay?” he asked. annabeth shrugged. percy quickly set his mug back down and wrapped an arm around her waist. “what’s wrong?”

 _oh nothing,_ she thought. _i just briefly thought you were cheating on me, only for me to be a complete idiot in the end._

annabeth bit her lip, handing her hot chocolate back to him for it to be set back down. once both of their hands were free, he held her closer and annabeth melted into him, ashamed to ever even think he would do something like cheat. 

“you remember how i told you luke cheated on me?” she whispered. percy nodded, unfazed by the mention of her ex boyfriend. annabeth took a small breath. “well, i found out by finding another girl’s underwear in his bed.”

her gaze dropped to her hands, not wanting to look him in the eye. “and it’s stupid but when i found that earring… my mind assumed the worst and…” she shrugged halfheartedly, unable to finish the sentence. 

“oh, beth,” he murmured, pulling her close and kissing her head. “i’m sorry.”

annabeth looked up at him. “you don’t have to apologize, you did nothing wrong,” she said quickly. 

“i know,” he said, lifting a hand to tuck hair behind her ear. “but still. i’m sorry you ever had to go through that. you didn’t deserve that.”

tucking her head back into the crook of his neck, annabeth nodded slightly. “i’m sorry i even assumed that, though. i know you would never. my mind still just... went there, though.”

“no, baby, it’s okay. i understand why you assumed the worse after what happened to you, it makes sense. i’m not upset with you for thinking that.” he pulled back and cupped her cheeks, making their eyes lock. “as long as you know i would never even think of doing something like that.”

he said it so seriously, with such finality, annabeth almost teared up. he made it so easy to trust and believe him wholeheartedly. “i don’t deserve you,” she whispered. 

percy’s eyebrows furrowed like she’d said something crazy. “you deserve the world,” he said easily, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

she stared at him. _i already have it,_ she almost said. but a confession that deep after less than two months of dating scared her, regardless of how true it was. instead, she smiled a little and quietly said, “thank you.”

he brought her face closer and kissed her, allowing warmth to overcome her body. when he pulled away, percy smiled. “okay, no more sad. we have hot chocolate and movies and cuddles and we’re okay, yeah?”

and as crazy as it was, he was right. she was okay now. moments earlier, she had been expecting this amazing thing they had built to crumble beneath them and instead, they were okay. happy, even. “yeah,” she smiled. 

less than a minute later, they were cuddled up together with his tv on and their mugs in hand. he’d let annabeth pick a movie first and because she loved to see him suffer, she’d picked a scary movie. 

“that’s fine,” he said. “it just means you have to hold me when i get scared.” which she had been planning on doing anyways.

hours later, percy was drifting in and out of consciousness when annabeth decided it was time to sleep. “sleep,” he mumbled. “yes. good.”

“very good,” she agreed softly, shutting off the tv, leaving them in darkness. as tired as he was, he still made the effort to pull her closer and adjust them until she was comfortable. with her head buried in his chest, she felt more at peace than she ever had, maybe in her entire life. 

“goodnight, perce,” she whispered. 

“night, beth,” he murmured. “love you.”

annabeth’s eyes, which had been closed, popped open. he hadn’t seemed to realize his confession as she felt his breathing slowly begin to even out. for a second, she’d wondered if she’d imagined them. maybe she was already asleep and she was dreaming?

but something told her that wasn’t the case, and he had actually just told her that he loved her. annabeth bit her lip as a smile grew on her face. 

she could easily pretend this never happened and let him have the chance to say it when he was fully awake, or better yet, she catch him off guard by saying it first. but instead, the idea of teasing him relentlessly about this being the first time he said those words sounded much more appealing. 

“i love you, too,” she murmured into his shirt. 

when they woke up the next morning, it took annabeth approximately two minutes to crack, telling him about what he’d said the night before. (he was hardly embarrassed though, considering she said it back right after she told him.)


End file.
